Hello! I know liberal arts schools tend to be more competitive for transfers, but I really believe that an LAC is where I need to go. I am currently at a California ccc with a competitive gpa, but it’s very unlikely I could get into schools with lower than a 20-25% acceptance rate. Are there any prestigious LACs that accept more students? I am a psychology major.
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Ordinarily, I’d say your chances are better at Wesleyan; it’s a slightly bigger LAC; it often accepts ~50 transfers a year. But, probably not this year nor the year after this since a 25% larger than usual frosh class will be winding its way through the system for some time.
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You can look up schools you’re interested in and see what their transfers acceptance rates were for 2019. You can also check the common data set for those schools for the 2020 rates but that year was sort of a one off because of Covid.
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You also may want to consider this in a relative sense. Irrespective of actual rates, you can seek colleges at which the acceptance rate for transfer applicants (at least in a typical year) is equivalent to or greater than that for first-year admission.
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Where are you willing to go? What’s your GPA? Are you male or female?
Kenyon is a fantastic LAC that has a reasonable transfer acceptance rate. In fact, I know a young man who transferred there and is now working in a very lucrative career. Oberlin, also in Ohio, could be a good possibility. Both have a great reputation.
What about Franklin & Marshall or Lafayette in PA? If you are a woman, I would suggest Bryn Mawr or Mt. Holyoke. Macalester has a lower transfer acceptance rate, but is a possibility. All the colleges I have mentioned have a certain level of prestige.
EDIT: I see you already posted a thread, which you ought to have linked here. It lists your stats. What are my chances - very nervous please help!
Why are you saying you can’t get into a school with a low acceptance rate? You have a 4.0. College don’t care about your HS GPA or your test score anymore. You have shown you can do the work, so reach high if you like. I think your list is very reach heavy. Some of the colleges on the list don’t match my idea of what an LAC is, in particular BC, BU, Cornell, all the Cal schools, and U Michigan.
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@AAmbition four days ago your other thread had lots of larger universities listed. What changed your mind in the last four days that you are now seeking a smaller LAC.
These are not LACs….with the possible exception of the Claremont colleges and Scripps.
boston college
boston university
barnard college
cornell
university of michigan
cal poly san luis obispo
scripps college
claremont mckenna
ucla
uc san diego
uc berkeley
uc davis
usc
Also…do you have an cost limitations?
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i didnt include many lacs in that thread because i couldnt find any with higher acceptance rates - most are below 10%, especially local ones or ones near bigger cities which is what i want. i am still mainly considering UCs outside of lacs because it is cheaper for my family (though cost isn’t too big of an issue rather a preference) as well as a few schools my family is recommending. that’s why I’m asking for more options.
thank you for your reply! other than lacs, my goal was to find schools either in california (cal schools are cheaper and nearer to home) or a school near a bigger city. i also prefer lacs that are local or near a big city. i thought if i chose some big cities schools at least id have that part. i couldn’t find many lacs unfortunately.
i just dont think i have any outstanding extracurriculars that will let me reach too high to be completely honest. i felt like the schools in my other list were reaches but not as bad as some LACs - most I’m seeing are below 10%. i will consider the options that you listed though. they look good - thank you!
All the colleges I suggested are well known and respected. In particular, Kenyon, Oberlin, Bryn Mawr and Macalester deserve more scrutiny on your part. Apart from Bryn Mawr, known as an excellent women’s college and part of the Quaker Consortium of Phildelphia, the others are in the Midwest. Macalester is in St. Paul and possibly the most diverse of these, Oberlin is close to Cleveland and known for being arty, activist, and has a famous music conservatoire, Kenyon is not too far from Columbus, but most would describe it as rural. Don’t focus on location too much. I would choose Kenyon in a heartbeat. It has a famously beautiful campus, excellent programs of all types and fantastic professors. There are famous grads from all these colleges, but Kenyon probably has more than the others combined.
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Vanderbilt in Nashville is not a LAC, but it is a great school in a big city that accepts a fairly high number of transfers for a top 20 school. Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas has over a 50 percent transfer acceptance rate. You might also look at Rhodes College in Memphis which is an LAC. Also check out the LACs that are part of Colleges that Change Lives that are in urban areas. St. Mary’s College of California, Reed College, University of Puget Sound, Williamette, Evergreen State, and Whitman are on the west coast. However, many of these schools are pricey. https://ctcl.org
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You can pm me if you would like more information on Kenyon. My daughter is a sophomore there, extremely happy (was also considering Macalester, Grinnell, Oberlin, and St Olaf).
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It should be noted that like many SLACs this year, Kenyon ended up with a larger first-year class than anticipated. They created a first semester study abroad program for frosh to ease overcrowding and offered stipends to accepted students who opted for a gap semester or year. All this is to say that I would recommend that you cast a wide net and ask admission offices if they anticipate taking fewer transfers. https://www.kenyon.edu/first-year-experience/alternative-options/
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Great to know! Is that info on its website? I have heard that a number of LACs accepted larger than usual freshman classes. That might well impact transfer acceptance rates. Typically, LACs don’t have much/any off campus housing so it would be tough to accomodate many transfer students if they are overcrowded with freshmen.
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The link at the end of my previous post is from Kenyon’s admitted students site for the class of 2025. I also found this article in the student newspaper. Student spotlight: featuring Kenyon College’s Class of 2025 “The Class of 2025 is big by Kenyon standards, with 513 first years studying on campus and 52 studying in Copenhagen. Meet a few of them below!”
I don’t mean to pick on Kenyon. We loved it when we visited in 2019 (our favorite student tour guide by a landslide). Just want the OP to know that this could be an even harder year to transfer to many SLACs.
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Yes, this is true. It crossed my mind that this may affect their transfer rate this year. Thanks for bringing it up.
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Given that you are a Psychology major, have you considered Barnard College at Columbia University - in Manhattan? While their freshman admissions are highly selective, they are less so with transfers.
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Yes, I am applying there! I think they would be my first choice. 
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In-state public Sonoma State University markets itself by as a public LAC, although it is larger than most LACs.
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